BCC now offers marine engineering degree

Program aims to boost local work force

A beige, hangar-like building in a sparsely populated section of Miramar will be the crucible where students can embark on a unique career - and help keep a lucrative local industry afloat.

That's where Broward Community College will base its new marine engineering management program, a two-year course of study aimed at producing graduates adept at constructing and maintaining boats from stem to stern.

The new program, to start Monday, is designed to provide well-paying jobs for graduates and answer the need for workers in the area's marine industry, which proponents say channels $13.6 billion into the economies of Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Industry jobs number in the hundreds of thousands. "It's for the ones who want to work at a marina. They're in high demand," Oscar Vargas, a BCC recruiting and marketing specialist, said of the program's target students. "If you know how to fix a diesel engine you can write your own ticket."

But it's not just engine repair on the curriculum.

Students will be taught all aspects of vessel maintenance: heating and air conditioning, plumbing, electricity and hydraulics, among other subjects. Florida Keys Community College is the only other community college in the state that offers such a program, Vargas said.

An offshoot of the school's automotive and aviation courses, the marine engineering management program will offer graduates an associate's degree.

Classes will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. and again from 6 to 10 p.m. for working adults. Total tuition will be $4,800."I'm hoping for at least 40 new students, that's what we're shooting for," said Jorge Guerra, dean of the aviation, automotive and marine programs.

BCC established the program with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida and the American Boat & Yacht Council, a national organization that sets standards and issues certifications for boat building and repair.

An advisory committee of representatives from the two groups, as well as local technicians, devised the study load.

"We sat down and designed the program around the needs of the industry," Guerra said. "This has been in the works for about two years."

The boating council will certify the program a "center of excellence," the dean said, and the building where students will tinker on engines and boats will be named the Marine Center of Excellence. An almost $2 million grant from the Labor Department will help renovate the building while first-semester students take introductory courses in classrooms.

Private fundraising and equipment donated from maritime businesses will help offset other expenses.

"Their interests and goals match ours," he said. "It stands to pay big dividends in terms of the quality and quantity of our marine work force."

Herhold said in Broward alone that work force totals 134,000. To keep the industry viable, fresh crops of skilled employees must be on the market. "One of the growth restraints we've had as an industry was the need for more work force training," Herhold said.

"There are plenty of job opportunities," Guerra said. "They don't have anybody really in the pipeline to fill all the positions that are necessary."

Lisa Knowles, who with husband Jeff owns Knowles Mobile Marine of Fort Lauderdale, a yacht building and refitting firm, said she would be keen to hire BCC's marine tech grads. Industry workers could make about $35,000 in their first year, she estimated.

With South Florida an international yachting destination, Knowles said, "We have to have the best facilities, the best workers, the best educational opportunities."